Introduction

At Macworld in January of this year, Apple formally announced the Apple TV (previously known as the "iTV"), an iTunes-compatible streaming media device meant to revolutionize the way we watch television. The announcement of the Apple TV also came at a time when Apple unveiled the iPhone and officially changed the company name from Apple Computer to Apple Inc.—a move that indicated Apple's seriousness in focusing more on lifestyle products for the general consumer than on traditional computers. Today's Apple wants into every facet of our lives, including our living rooms.

And so, after several delays attributed mostly (among the rumor mill) to unfinished software, the Apple TV finally started shipping on March 20. Fans and critics alike have eagerly looked forward to its release so that we can decide once and for all how Apple could compete in the quickly-saturating downloads-to-TV market.

We're approaching the Apple TV from a slightly different perspective than most of Apple's prospective customers. We've had a Mac mini hooked up to our TV ever since the mini's launch in 2005 and acting as an HTPC-like device for all of our non-live-TV needs. Our mini, which we upgraded to a Mac mini core solo last year, is able to stream music and video content through iTunes from other Macs and PCs in the house—just as the Apple TV can—but it can also play a wide variety of other files. The mini acts as a DVD player, and it can function as a DVR with the use of an Elgato eyeTV. It is a full-fledged computer, after all, with the TV as its monitor.

But there are some limits to using the mini in this way. With the G4 mini, we had to use an external mouse and keyboard to control the computer (and since we're lazy and want to plant our butts on the couch the whole time, they had to be wireless). However, all the way from the couch, it was hard at times to read the screen of the mini while searching for files or going through playlists in iTunes. The Intel mini came with Front Row, which made it easier for me to stream iTunes content from elsewhere in the house, with the big, swooping menus.

So what does the Apple TV have to offer us—people who have been slightly spoiled with the use of a seemingly more versatile device for years now? We tried to examine both how the Apple TV would fare among my family members who are intimidated by even the slightest hint of technology, but also how it would fare among fellow geeks.

To do this, we decided to spend some quality time using our Apple TVs before reviewing it, and we seeded our staff with a few units to get feedback from both PC and Mac users, from both HD videophiles and standard definition users. This probably isn't the first Apple TV review you've read, but we also spent much more time going over everything than was possible last week.

Unboxing and setting it up

In true Apple tradition, the Apple TV comes attractively and fashionably packaged. When opened, all important components are laid out simply and elegantly.

The contents of the box include the Apple TV itself, a power cable, an Apple remote, and a booklet for how to set it up.

The Apple TV is a rounded square with sides that measure just under 8 inches apiece. At 2.4 pounds, it's a little heavier than it looks upon first blush (no doubt due to the hard drive and power supply inside, among other things). Comparatively, the Mac mini is only about 6.5 inches on each side, weighs almost the same (2.9 pounds), and is about twice as thick as the Apple TV.

Unfortunately, the device does not come with the required cables to hook it up to your TV. On one hand, we can understand why, since the user may need different cables depending on which type of TV he or she has. On the other hand, this (to put it bluntly) sucks. Anyone who buys an Apple TV will have to spend another $20 to $60 on cables on top of the purchase price of the device itself if they want to actually make use of it. For the purposes of this review, we purchased the XtremeMac component, audio, and HDMI cables through Apple. According to Opposable Thumbs' HDMI cable price breakdown, the price we paid for the HDMI cable (about $20) was actually relatively cheap in comparison with most of the others.

Despite many of the "first looks" saying otherwise, the Apple TV does in fact work with both HDTVs and boring, old, standard definition television sets. The key here is that the SDTVs must have component ports in order to hook up to the Apple TV—something not all SDTVs have. If you are a SDTV owner and are interested in an Apple TV, all hope is not lost for you, but make sure that you have component ports on your TV first before purchasing the Apple TV. For users with HDTVs containing HDMI ports, only an HDMI cable is needed; otherwise component cables will work here, also.

The complete list of ports on the back of the Apple TV are as follows: power, USB (according to Apple, for diagnostic purposes only), Ethernet, HDMI, three component ports (Y'PbPr), two audio ports, and optical audio. One thing of note is that for many European customers, component video often comes in the form of a SCART connector. Unfortunately, this is missing from the Apple TV, which will limit many European customers unless they have Y'PbPr ports.